COVID-19 In the media

The CDES' member researchers regularly share their research insights in the media.

Below are some of their contributions and other articles about their work.

Better mental health in the time of COVID

An exciting recent paper by M Vlassopoulos, A Siddique, T Rahman, D Pakrashi, A Islam, and F Ahmed shows us a remedy for mental health suffered during COVID related lockdowns with evidence from rural Bangladesh.

‘Low-Tech Solutions’ to Address Learning Loss

COVID-19 related closures of educational institutions disrupted the education of millions of students globally. At the peak of school closures, approximately 1.6 billion (or 94%) students were out of school worldwide.

COVID-19: Facts, figures, estimated relationships and analysis

Ranjan Ray provides an integrated analysis of the health and economic aspects of COVID-19 that is based on publicly available data from a wide range of data sources.

Is Bangladesh suffering the Titanic's fate?

Consider the movie "Titanic," in which passengers elbow one another for a spot in one of the lifeboats, recognising the impending disaster. The situation depicts every man for himself with no preparation for the catastrophe. Sounds familiar?

Covid-19: Impact on migrant workers in Bihar

The nationwide lockdown – imposed in March 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19 – left large sections of migrant workers in a precarious position, with livelihoods lost, and no means of public transport to get back home

Proud or mad? Melbourne’s marathon lockdown becomes the world’s longest

Ranjan Ray from Monash Business School (Economics) was quoted in The Age and Sydney Morning Herald in an article on the lockdown in Melbourne

COVID-19 and mental health: Improving women’s mental well-being via telecounselling

A field study in rural Bangladesh shows that a low-cost telecounselling intervention can effectively improve women’s mental health in resource-poor settings.

How is the pandemic affecting mental health in developing countries?

Read the full article by Professor Asad Islam published on The Economics Observatory (ECO) website.

Lives and livelihoods in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic in rural Bihar

The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered an unprecedented health and an economic crisis in India.

94% households surveyed in rural Bihar hit in some way by crisis

A new study conducted by the researchers from the CDES and the Institute for Human Development has thrown up startling findings.

COVID-led reverse migration to Bihar halved remittance, says study

More than half of the migrant workers from Bihar returned from cities following the outbreak of COVID-19, shelling out a hefty Rs 3,000 for the journey on average.

The lockdown quandary: is the pain worth the gain?

Monash researchers are mapping the global effects of different strategies used to contain and manage COVID-19. This is what they have found so far.

COVID-19: facts, figures, estimated relationships and analysis

Ranjan Ray and Sanjesh Kumar explore the interaction between the health and economic aspects of COVID-19 and its implications for global inequality and poverty.

Social protection in the time of COVID-19: Is Bangladesh doing enough?

Asad Islam (Director, Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES)), and Hashibul Hassan (PhD student, Monash University).

Delivering COVID-19 Information across the Digital Divide

Rural communities in Bangladesh and India where internet access is low but mobile phone access is high were targeted with text messages and personalized phone calls about COVID-19 preventative measures.

The marathon ride: driving the Australian economy through a pandemic (ep2)

The marathon ride. Record budget, record spending, record debt. Is this the right way to drive the Australian economy through a pandemic? With Associate Professor Gaurav Datt.

How can India revive growth?

With more than five million Covid-19 cases so far, India has announced a nearly 24 percent slump in its economy in the three months to the end of June this year. Listen to Associate Professor Gaurav Datt's conversation with BBC World News.

COVID-19 economic impact: Indian GDP shrinks by 23.9 per cent; Australia records 7 per cent drop

Associate Professor Gaurav Datt's interview with SBS Hindi on India's GDP growth numbers for the April-June quarter

Food insecurity during COVID-19

Research project by Associate Professor Firoz Ahmad, Professor Asad Islam, Dr Debayan Pakrashi, Tabassum Rahman and Abu Siddique

The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the small firms in developing countries

Research project by Professor Asad Islam, Professor Margaret Triyana and Dr Xing Xia

COVID-19 exposes India’s weak public healthcare

Professor Ranjan Ray

GDP growth during and after shutdown: Viewed through electricity generation Professor Asad Islam and Hashibul Hassan

Group testing: A possible way to identify COVID-19 cases

Professor Asad Islam and Tabassum Rahman (Article in Bangla)

COVID-19 Testing by age: A road map back to work?

Professor Asad Islam and Associate Professor Gaurav Datt

Australia’s experience in dealing with COVID-19: Are there lessons for India?

Professor Ranjan Ray

What if the government borrowed money and never had to pay it back?

Amidst discussions of the size of the Australian government’s fiscal response to the Covid-19 crisis, the question of how to finance the fiscal response has risen to prominence.